21st Century Ninja
by Bunny Sakuno
Summary: AU. Kira Yamato is a modern day shadow warrior that uses his exceptional hacking and combat skills to save the lives of the average person in trouble. When Lacus Clyne's number comes up, he goes to save her too, only to find that Miss Lacus Clyne is anything but average. Lacus/Kira. Ongoing.
1. Chapter 1 - Another Number

**21st Century Ninja**

By: Bunny

Rated: T

Genres: Sci-fi / Action / Romance

Summary: Kira Yamato is a modern day shadow warrior that uses his exceptional hacking and combat skills to save the lives of the average person in trouble. When Lacus Clyne's number comes up, he goes to save her too, only to find that Miss Lacus Clyne is anything but average. Lacus/Kira.

Important Author's Note: I want to make a point of giving credit where credit is due. Gundam SEED is a fantastic anime series written by Chiaki Morosawa. Also that this story was _partly_ inspired by the American TV show Person of Interest created by Jonathan Nolan.

* * *

Chapter One - Another Number

* * *

Ring. Ring. Ring. The all too familiar feeling of dread in my stomach which accompanied every ring that ever came out of this particular phone manifested itself deep in my gut.

Someone's number was up.

I picked up the phone and listened as several recorded voices; a mix of male and female went through a nine digit number sequence. I quickly scribbled out the numbers on the notepad in front of me.

It was a social security number. Someone was either in trouble, or about to be the cause of it. I never knew. All I knew was Haro had found another number for me and I needed to stop a murder from happening.

I typed the social security number into my laptop to search for the person Haro had sent to me.

Haro was special. A super computer surveillance system AI that had the eyes and ears of the entire world at it's fingertips. Haro had been programmed with next generation complex algorithms to search out terrorist threats. His very existence was beyond top secret.

The only reason I knew about Haro was because...I made him.

I go by many names, in order to protect my identity. If you happened to look up my birth name, the world would tell you I'm dead. No-one I come into contact with now knows my true name. For I above almost all other people know how much personal information of each person is truly out there for the complete taking away of our privacy. I also know how completely dangerous and vulnerable that makes us.

For now, I go by Kira. Kira Yamato. I suppose you could say I'm a 21st century ninja. A shadow warrior. If your number is up, I come to find you. Good guy or bad guy, I'll be there.

Well...well...my eyes widened a bit in surprise at the picture of the beautiful woman's image showing up on my laptop screen.

 _Lacus Clyne._

She had long wavy pink hair and pale sky blue eyes with a sweet smile. I instantly wanted to judge that she was the victim and not the perpetrator of the impending murder, but I held back. I'd been burned before by the innocent looking faces of beautiful women. Miss Lacus Clyne could easily be another one of those beautiful women that were so gorgeous they could _literally_ get away with murder.

Still, something deep within me wanted to believe there was no way such a sweet smile could have some kind of darkness lurking anywhere underneath it. I sent the basic research information that was out there for the taking about Miss Clyne from my laptop into my cell phone and made my way out of my penthouse apartment building and down into the streets of Upper Manhattan. It was time to go find Miss Clyne and see what she was up to and why Haro had sent me her number.

It wasn't unheard of, but it was unusual for one of the numbers sent to me by Haro to be someone whom was practically my neighbor in this city packed full of people, but nevertheless this Miss Clyne was practically my neighbor. Her address was listed as only 3 buildings down from mine. Not that being my neighbor really mattered. I avoided making connections with anybody. I was a shadow warrior for a reason. Many would consider me a vigilante. If I got the attention of the wrong people, the results could be disastrous at worst, and very troublesome at the least. Making a point of not making connections with others was essential for keeping people safe.

Keeping people safe was my business. It all came down to Haro. As much as the idea and concept of Haro terrified me, that is, the knowledge that there was a supercomputer AI out there watching all of us, and that privacy was more of a joke than a reality; Haro was necessary. Haro kept us safe. Haro prevented terrorism. It's why I agreed to make Haro for the government in the first place.

It's also because of my desire to try to preserve some semblance of privacy that Haro only gave social security numbers. The oddity of Haro's existence is actually what I do now.

Haro was designed to look for lethal intent in order to catch terrorists, but because Haro sees everything, Haro sees _all_ premeditated murders. I had to teach Haro the difference between mass-murdering intent such as terrorist attacks aka 'relevant' and a commonplace murder aka 'non relevant.' At first, these extra 'non-relevant' numbers of non-terrorists threats were discarded everyday when Haro would reset at midnight. After all, Haro existed and was created to protect us from terrorists, not from everyday crimes.

As the time went by though, I couldn't live with it. Really...how could I live with it? Knowing that someone out there needed help and that I could help them? I didn't build Haro to save some people, I built him to save everybody! I couldn't live any longer without doing something. Haro was giving me numbers of murder victims or murderers, and that knowledge if put to good use could save the lives of countless people.

So after the program for terrorism was completed with the government I'd gone underground. I'd reprogrammed Haro to send all 'irrelevant' numbers to me before they would be erased at reset and all 'relevant' numbers to the secret government agency that would handle the terrorists. Even the government couldn't be aware that I was receiving these 'irrelevant' numbers. If caught, they would shut him down. So Haro and I continued to fight for the safety of average people in secret. It wasn't supposed to be part of his programming, but AIs are like that...doing things you never intended for them to do. I could only be proud that the extra data Haro did something with was to save all those other people that the government felt were irrelevant.

Nobody was irrelevant to me. All life was precious. So I made it my business to save them. If someone's number was up. I would find them. Together, Haro and I would stop as many murders as we possibly could.

It was a tough and lonely life, but it had it's rewards.

Such as meeting beautiful women. Speaking of….

Reaching the building Miss Clyne lived in, I opened the door and entered into the lobby. There were secure elevators going up to the apartments, and a large reception desk with some comfortable chairs. I scanned my eyes around the ceiling, looking for the closest security camera. After all...they were everywhere.

"A little help here," I said to the first camera I spotted.

Walking up to the desk I said to the security guard sitting at the desk, "I'm the IT guy Miss Clyne called."

The security guard gave me a surprised look, "We have no scheduled IT visits for today."

"Can you check again?" I replied calmly.

"Well, I'll be. I guess it was added in late. It is on here," The security guard replied with a note of amazement in his voice.

Unlike the poor security guard, I wasn't amazed in the slightest. I knew it would take Haro less than 2 seconds to hack into the building's security system and put me on the schedule. After all Haro was the best hacker in the world. He learned everything from me. Before I made Haro, I was the best hacker in the world. Haro had a distinct advantage over me though. He was a supercomputer AI that could hack a million times faster than I could ever dream of being capable of. All in all, it made us quite the formidable team.

The security guard picked up a phone and dialed a short number, "Miss Clyne, your IT guy is here." I watched as the man shook his head and whatever Lacus Clyne was saying to him. He looked up at me and said, "Miss Clyne says she didn't call for you."

I turned to look up at the security camera again, "Haro." Then turning back to the security guard I said, "Can you ask Miss Clyne to check her system again for errors? Someone called me to come fix her system, and I would hate for it to be a wasted trip."

I turned around and glared at the camera knowing Haro would be watching me while I waited...and 3...2...1….

"Oh, Sir. It appears that Miss Clyne does need your assistance after all. Please wait a moment."

"Yes, Miss Clyne I'll send him right up," I heard the man say into the phone.

A few minutes later, the security guard escorted me into an elevator where he input the access for Miss Clyne's apartment. The security guard left the elevator and I watched the doors close behind him before I was zooming upwards into the skyscraper Miss Clyne called home.

Miss Clyne had a penthouse apartment similiar to my own, that is, the elevator opened directly into her apartment instead of into a hallway leading to a door. So Miss Clyne was waiting for me as I stepped off the lift.

She held out a hand to me, "Hello. I'm Lacus Clyne."

I took her delicately soft hand and shook it in my rough one.

"Nice to meet you Miss Clyne. Please, call me Kira," I said it without thinking. It was hard to think around her. She was even prettier in person than the pictures I'd seen when I'd done my first quick search on her in my apartment. Why did I tell her my name was Kira? I never told anyone my real alias that I lived by. I always used some other name so they couldn't track me down later. I fought off a frown of disappointment in myself. She was just too pretty and sweet looking. I was slipping.

"Well, Kira. I don't know what's happened to my network. It was working just fine this morning, but it was as if as soon as I got the call from the lobby that you were here to fix it that it went and broke itself!" She gave a cute giggle.

"I'm a dead man," I muttered under my breath.

"Pardon? I didn't hear you," Lacus said.

"Yes...well, Miss Clyne if you could show me to your main computer? I can get started on running diagnostics."

"Oh, yes, of course, right this way please," She replied as she turned and began walking deeper into the large apartment.

I followed after her grimacing. This case was going to be a problem. I could feel it deep in my bones. After so many of these people that Haro and I had run into, it was almost a sixth sense for me at this point. The really troublesome cases, I somehow knew in advance which ones would be the worst.

Miss Clyne tapped the back of a plush office chair before waving her delicate arms in the direction of a large computer monitor sitting on top of a huge corner desk in a large studio like room.

Entering the room, I turned around in a circle a few times, taking the room in, trying to figure out why it was the way it was. The walls were covered with foam panels on top of some type of suede that had been bolted into the drywall. There were speakers everywhere as well as a microphone, a piano keyboard, and a few other instruments.

"Is this…?"

"A recording studio? Yes, yes it is," Miss Clyne replied.

I pointed to the monitor, "And this is your primary network computer?"

She nodded, "Sorry about the mess of the studio, I do most of my recording work here at home," She explained.

I pulled the chair out from the desk, and took a seat on the edge of it, feeling rather uncomfortable despite the fact that I always felt the most at home behind a computer screen. I just couldn't put my finger on it. Was it just because Miss Clyne was so beautiful? Or was there something more that was setting me on edge? Was I missing something important?

"So you're…?"

"A singer, yes. I apologize, I thought you knew already," she replied. Her face seemed puzzled.

Damn. I should have done more research on her before coming over. Her close proximity and her pretty pictures had made me sloppier than ever before. Was she some kind of famous diva or something? Feeling embarrassed by the whole situation, I coughed into my hand awkwardly for a moment to catch my out of control thoughts. I could feel a blush spreading across my cheeks and once again worried frantically that Miss Lacus Clyne could very well be the death of me.

"Sorry Miss Clyne, I don't get out much," I said lamely.

She turned a pretty pink shade before she clasped her hands together in front of herself and said, "Oh no! I must apologize. I shouldn't have assumed! It's just been such a long time since I met someone that didn't know."

Aww...I embarassed her. I instantly felt bad about it too. She seemed to be as sweet and genuinely nice as her smile lead me to believe when I'd first laid my eyes on her picture. That only meant one thing though. Someone out there had something against Miss Lacus Clyne and was intending to kill her and it was now up to me to save her.

I turned towards the computer monitor with a determined look and woke the machine up. Glancing briefly over my shoulder I said with a new confidence, "Don't worry Miss Clyne, I'm going to take the best care of you."

She giggled again, and I swore it sounded like what the beautiful tinkling of an angel's laughter must sound like, "Oh Kira, you make it sound as if you're saving my life." She reached out and touched my shoulder with the lightest touch before she added, "I'll leave you to it."

I watched her leave the room as a shiver of pleasure ran from my shoulder where she'd touched me all the way through my body to my toes. I shook myself to clear my head from her intoxicating presence and then began typing away furiously on her computer searching for clues as to why anybody could possibly want to kill the sweetest creature I'd ever had the pleasure of encountering.

"Now now...let's see who's trying to kill you, Miss Clyne," I muttered under my breath.

As I scoured through Lacus' personal data on her computer I found that there were several possibilities. She was actually a very famous talent. On top of that her father was a powerful politician that was currently serving as a New York state senator, which pretty much doubled the amount of enemies Lacus could have. Politicians and gangsters in my experience seemed to always have the most enemies that were out to kill them. Famous talented people like Lacus tended towards having more stalkers than people out there that sincerely wanted them dead. Lacus certainly had her fair share of stalkers. Going through her email was like walking through a field of landmines. It was no wonder she had so many unread messages. Her Twitter, Facebook and other social media channels were filled with plenty of fans, stalkers, and haters alike as well. For not the first time since undertaking Haro's irrelevant numbers, I wished Haro was able to give me more than just a social security number.

After all, Haro knew who the killer was. Haro saw everything, so Haro knew everything. Unfortunately for me I'd programmed Haro in such a way that it was also Haro's job to keep all the details private and force the government's anti-terrorist agency to do some of their own work instead of giving them unlimited access to all they could possibly want to know on any person on the planet. Having that power was bad enough for Haro to have, but in the hands of any government or human being it would be corrupted completely. As it was it had taken me tons of time to program Haro in a way that Haro wouldn't become corrupted by all the power he had. Needless to say, there had been many failed attempts at making Haro that had needed to be destroyed.

I had even restricted myself from accessing Haro once the programming was completed. Otherwise, the temptation could be too great for me at times to know everything there is to know about something or someone. So Haro gave me numbers, and he helped me as much as I allowed him to, but there were a lot of necessary restrictions on how much Haro could help me.

I gave a sigh and looked directly into the webcam of the monitor as I said, "I really wish you could tell me who it is."

"Tell you who what is?"

I _almost_ jumped. I wasn't expecting anybody to overhear me talking to Haro after all. Not that anyone would understand that I was talking to Haro. There was no way for anyone to know it. The webcam didn't need to be active for Haro to be able to see me and hear me. He had unlimited access into every camera connected to any network in the world. Webcams, cellphone cams, street cameras, security cameras, airport cameras, you name it, Haro was watching everything 24/7/365 and processing all of that incoming data simultaneously, not to mention he was sending both myself the irrelevant numbers and the government those deemed relevant, aka terrorists.

Additionally, even if I did tell someone I was speaking with an all-knowing supercomputer surveillance AI system, they would never believe me. I would be labeled as crazy, and possibly committed into an insane asylum. Not that talking out loud to cameras wouldn't be considered crazy even without my explanation.

I cleared my throat for a moment, "Well Miss Clyne...it appears that you were the target of an extremely malicious hacker that crippled your entire network, well...rather quickly."

Lacus tilted her head for a moment in thought, "Oh...I see...so you're trying to figure out who hacked my system?"

I nodded.

"But...why would you need to know who did it?" She asked. "Isn't it enough to fix it?"

"If I knew who your attacker was, it would be easier for me to set up security parameters to protect you from future attacks."

"Wow. I had no idea it could be so complex. Are you telling me that each hacker has a certain way they do things?"

I shook my head quickly, "Not exactly...it's more like...the higher level hackers have a way they do things."

"Oh…"

She was quiet in thought for a few minutes processing the load of crap I'd just made up. If it wasn't to save her life, I would feel bad about feeding her all these ridiculous tales, but…

"Oh I get it. So Kira...you must be on some high level to know these things. But if you're so high how in the world did you end up in my apartment for a simple IT fix?" Her eyes widened and she took a step back from me, suddenly looking very uneasy, "I don't want to believe it, but could it be...you're some kind of stalker? Or did...did someone send you? Someone like Meer?"

"Who's Meer?" I asked, not missing a beat. Maybe this Meer was a real clue as to who was after Lacus.

"She didn't hire you? To come sabotage me?" Lacus seemed quite distressed and I instantly wanted to comfort her. But...what could I do? I was a nobody to her.

As my mouth was open to interrogate her further on Meer, we both froze for moment at the sound of glass breaking. My senses went into hyper-alert as I jumped up from the desk chair and pushed Laucs behind me. I started inching towards the door while pulling my handgun from my belt.

As I peered around the edge of the doorway trying to see who had invaded the apartment, Lacus breathed into my ear, "Why do you have a gun, Kira?"

"I don't leave home without it," I mumbled distractedly as I peered further around the edge of the doorway. There still wasn't anyone in sight, and I couldn't hear footsteps. Was the intruder waiting or really so quiet that I couldn't hear them?

"I think someone broke into my apartment, but I don't know how. I'm on the 55th floor," Lacus whispered quietly.

"Someone is definitely here," I said under my breath back.

"What are we going to do?" She whispered slowly into my ear.

"Get out of here," I answered. We really were talking too much about it, I thought in the back of my mind. We were turning into sitting ducks. "Do you have stairs?"

Lacus moved around me and started walking down the hallway. Did she have a death wish? Or was she really not afraid? I ran backwards after her as quietly as possible, keeping both eyes on the entrance to the hallway.

"Oh my!" Lacus exclaimed. I spun around quickly. There was a big man with a gun pointed at Lacus' chest. Without a second thought I shot him in the kneecap just as his own gun went off. The bullet from his gun flew up into the ceiling's direction instead of towards Lacus as he fell to the floor. Debris from the ceiling scattered around us.

"Are you alright?" Lacus asked the big guy as she rushed towards him. He was grabbing his bleeding knee and re-aiming his gun back on Lacus. I grabbed her arm and yanked her back into my chest forcefully just before a second bullet whizzed past us and hit the wall.

I shot the bicep of the guy's arm that was holding the gun. The gun dropped from his grip, "YOU BASTARD!" He yelled angrily.

"Kira! You're hurting him!" Lacus fussed.

"He's trying to kill you!?" I replied almost dumbfounded at her lack of concern for her own life.

She moved towards the man writhing on the floor yet again, but I held fast to her arm, instead pulling her towards the doorway that inevitably would lead to the stairway. I opened the door with force, causing it to slam into the wall, making an overly loud banging sound reverberate through the thick concrete walls of the stairway.

"But Kira...what if he dies?" Lacus asked as I dragged her reluctant form up the steps.

"Miss Clyne, we have bigger problems," I replied as calmly as possible. I was still in my hyper-awareness mode, all my senses on edge as my mind buzzed with exit strategies. Finally I glared up at the closest security camera and said, "Send a helicopter to the roof!"

"I can't send a helicopter to the roof without my phone to call for one," Lacus replied.

"I'm not talking to you," I answered back quickly.

Since she was in the penthouse it was only about a flight and a half before we were exiting the stairwell onto the rooftop. Thankfully, a helicopter was about to land on the helipad.

"Wow," Lacus said, I could barely hear her over the blades of the chopper.

"Get in the helicopter," I instructed as I pushed her forward from the arm I still hadn't let go of.

"Where are we going?" She asked as I climbed into the helicopter quickly behind her, pulling the door closed tightly behind me.

"I don't know," I said as the pilot took off, taking us up into the sky.

I could only imagine Haro had hacked some kind of directions into whatever helicopter company he'd sent to us. Since Haro has eyes and ears everywhere, he would know which company had pilots on standby that could have arrived so quickly, and what companies had pilots were discreet enough to not ask questions.

About 35 minutes later, our helicopter was landing at the Southampton heliport. Southampton is a beachside community outside of New York city located on Long Island. It's well known as a popular tourist destination for the rich and famous and included some of the most expensive homes in the country. I found myself wondering why it was Haro had programmed for the pilot to bring us to this heliport as I handed the pilot a large bill and muttered, "Thank you for your discretion."

"Have a good evening sir," The pilot replied as I practically pushed Lacus out of the helicopter door and down to the helipad. I couldn't get out of that helicopter fast enough. We needed to make tracks as fast as possible. I didn't know who was after Lacus yet, but she'd been shot at twice today. I wasn't going to take any chances.

Lacus seemed to handle my pushiness with a practiced grace that I frustratingly found all the more endearing. Most people would be yelling at me by now with how much pushing and pulling I'd been doing to her person.

As we walked briskly away from the helipad and were met by a limousine that Haro must have also had the foresight to charter for us, Lacus looked at me with her big beautiful pale blue eyes and asked, "Kira...who are you really?"


	2. Chapter 2 - Dinner Date

**21st Century Ninja**

By: Bunny

Rated: T

Genres: Sci-fi / Action / Romance

Summary: Kira Yamato is a modern day shadow warrior that uses his exceptional hacking and combat skills to save the lives of the average person in trouble. When Lacus Clyne's number comes up, he goes to save her too, only to find that Miss Lacus Clyne is anything but average. Lacus/Kira.

* * *

Chapter Two - Dinner Date

* * *

Lacus asked me who I really was. It was a question almost every person whose life I'd saved with Haro's help in the past had asked me as well. Unfortunately for me, this was the first time I wanted to be honest. Being honest about who I am, what I do, and why I do what I do is extremely dangerous. There's a reason I work alone. Well, I suppose Haro counts for something since he's an AI, not just a computer, but Haro doesn't exactly make a habit of talking with me, so I feel like I'm working alone most of the time.

I hit the button on the side of the door which closed the window pane between the driver and the back of the limo where Lacus and I were sitting. It wouldn't do for the driver to be able to hear any sort of conversation we were going to have on our way to wherever Haro was sending us.

Without thinking about it, I reached over and took Lacus' hand into both of mine and said, "Miss Clyne, I have reason to believe your life is in danger."

She scooted closer and dropped her voice to barely a whisper, "What aren't you telling me Kira? You didn't seem surprised when my apartment was broken into and you also didn't seem surprised when he shot at us."

"He shot at you," I corrected her quickly.

She frowned deeply for a moment, her face looking troubled, "Well, I've been receiving threats most of my life, but this is the first time I was actually shot at, or had my home broken into."

I nodded, "They must have repelled down the building from the rooftop to be able to come in through the window. I'm pretty certain that person was a highly trained assassin."

"Kira...I'm grateful you saved my life, but how do you know so much about this? You said you were an IT guy, and it did seem that you know a lot about computers, so how is it that you ended up having a gun and being able to shoot at the assassin so precisely? I didn't miss the fact that you only shot his knee and his arm."

She was quick as a whip. Nothing got past her. I wasn't sure how to respond so we sat there in silence for a few minutes as I continued to hold her small hand safely between my two bigger ones and the limo continued to drive smoothly through the hamptons.

As the limo stopped, Lacus squeezed her hand over my lower hand, "Tell me later Kira."

She said it so softly, and somehow it wasn't pushy. I didn't feel pressured to tell her, but the feeling I had of wanting to tell her the truth surged up within myself with greater force. What was it about Lacus Clyne that made me want to share everything about my life with her and learn everything about hers?

She sure would be the death of me.

The limo door was opened by our driver and we exited onto the street. We were in front of a small retail clothing store that was selling fine attire. I wasn't sure why we needed to be dressed nicely, but I did know one thing for sure. Haro had sent us here for a reason. So I took Lacus' hand and pulled her towards the store.

"What are we doing here?" She asked as we crossed the threshold into the small store.

I waved my arm towards a pink dress and said, "Isn't it obvious? We're here to get dressed."

Lacus looked down at her simple casual attire she'd been in since earlier when I'd arrived in her apartment. It was a simple black top and shorts with pink trim.

She smiled and then wandered over to the female side of the clothing store in search of something for herself.

I quickly selected a fine black suit in my size.

In less than 15 minutes, Lacus and I were exiting the clothing store with our newly purchased attire on our bodies. We were looking ready for a nice night out in the breezy upscale beach town.

We got back into our limo and were whisked away yet again. It was a quick ride before we were stopped again. This time at a fine dining establishment. We were promptly seated at a reserved table that once again must have been Haro's doing. Within a few minutes we were enjoying a fine wine and had delicious looking seafood appetizers placed in front of us.

Lacus seemed to not have a care in the world as she sipped her wine and began eating, whereas I was a mess inside my mind. I was thinking about what in the world I was going to do with this woman to keep her safe until I could track down whoever was trying to kill her. Going back to her apartment was unthinkable at this point. My place was obviously out of the question. I did have a few safe houses in the city for situations such as this, but none of them were very nice places. I felt a strong desire to keep Lacus somewhere nice. Maybe it was because unlike everybody else, she didn't seem to be the type of person that would fuss over her accommodations living up to or not living up to her usual standards. It made me want to give her the very best of everything in every way.

I held back from moaning over my thoughts about the beautiful woman calmly eating across from me. If I continued to think this way about her she would definitely be the death of me. Not to mention if this afternoon was any indication of how she reacted to a gunfight...being more concerned with the life of the person trying to kill her than her own life…

If I hadn't pulled her back in time…

I couldn't even bear to think of it.

Lacus took a long slow sip from her glass of wine before she said, "So Kira...who are you really?"

She was kind of persistent wasn't she?

At my lack of response she filled the silence with her own ideas, "You know your way around a computer like a super hacker, you have perfect aim and timing in a gunfight, you speak to the air frequently, have plenty of cash on your person, thinking nothing of dropping thousands of dollars on a moment's notice, and are somehow able to summon helicopters and private limo drivers to your exact location without even as far as I've seen touching a cell phone. Did I miss anything?"

She giggled a moment later, "You can close your mouth."

I hadn't even notice my jaw had dropped. I felt myself blushing again and couldn't believe this woman had managed to disarm me so completely and effortlessly yet again. She didn't miss a thing! How was I going to save her without her figuring out Haro existed?

I snapped my jaw shut and cleared my throat.

"I think that was all of it," I replied.

She giggled again, and unable to help myself, despite what a serious situation we were in, I laughed along with her infectious laughter.

Lacus Clyne was sooooo much trouble. The good kind, the best kind, the kind I would love to spend my life dealing with if it wasn't for my already higher calling of saving the world one person at a time. I could already feel myself missing her when this was over and I had no reason to be by her side anymore.

She leaned forward, getting closer to me, "Tell me everything Kira."

I wanted to. I really wanted to tell her everything. Unfortunately, telling Lacus anything would only put her life in much more danger, and in a forever in danger not temporarily in danger sort of way.

Before I could reply, our waiter was placing some fresh grilled fish dishes in front of us, and topping off Lacus' wine glass.

"Thank you sir," Lacus said with a practiced graciousness to our server.

I guess Haro knew Lacus liked the same food as I did since he must have been the one that ordered all this damn food that kept being delivered to our table. Or maybe Haro was unimaginative and thought only to order two of the same dish. The programmer inside of me couldn't help wondering at it. Haro always amazed me. As his creator I found his every action fascinating.

"What do you think of the fish?" I asked Lacus, my curiosity getting the best of me.

She stopped eating and placed her fork down elegantly before she clasped her two hands together in front of her chest sending me a glowing smile that twinkled all the way to her eyes, "Oh, this is my absolute favorite! How did you know, Kira?"

I wanted to laugh. Her favorite dish was the same as mine. Haro knew it. I had a million wonderful thoughts invade my mind simultaneously and it made me feel a stupid kind of happiness. The type that overtakes you suddenly and changes your entire outlook on the world for a moment - for that one moment when everything on the planet feels completely and utterly perfect.

"You seem quite pleased," Lacus observed as she picked her fork back up and began eating her dinner again.

She took a small bite, chewed it thoroughly, and then took another sip of her wine before she said, "Well, since you don't seem to be offering me any explanations as to your sudden fortuitous appearance today, perhaps you can tell me what we're doing after this lovely dinner?"

I stopped eating my own fish and folded my hands in front of my face for a moment as I began to think of what to do with Lacus to keep her safe tonight once again.

"We'll need to find a safe place to stay the night," I answered.

Lacus clapped her hands excitedly, "Finally an answer from you." She twisted a bit in her chair for a moment, making her gorgeous violet and white dress skirts sway around her chair before she said, "Though, Kira...I don't know how appropriate it would be for us to find a place to stay the night together."

I was blushing again and I knew it. I could only be grateful that this time her own cheeks were also flushed a becoming pink hue.

I cleared my throat before I answered, "Well Miss Clyne, the best place to hide is in plain sight."

Her sky blue eyes widened with piqued curiosity, "It is?"

I nodded, "it's the least likely place someone looking for you will look of course."

Lacus seemed to process that for a moment before she said, "I think I agree with you."

"Good," I said it with more confidence than I actually felt for the simple fact that I still didn't know where to put her up for the night. Of course, hiding in plain sight was the best course of action. However there were quite a few complications. One being that Lacus was famous. She could be spotted and reported anywhere. So in order for her to truly hide in plain sight, we first needed to alter her appearance. "So how do you feel about dying your hair?"

With dismay I watched her face fall. She worried her lower lip for a minute before she finally replied, "Okay Kira...if you tell me who you really are...we can dye my hair."

She sure wanted to know everything didn't she. Sorry darling, no can do.

"Point taken Miss Clyne," I conceded.

She giggled with delight before she said, "Oh by the way, please call me Lacus. After all, we've already been in a gunfight and had a dinner date together."

I was pretty sure she had just induced about the biggest blush of my life as I said, "Of course, Miss Clyne."

She pouted for a moment, but smiled as our waiter came to deposit our desserts.

I picked up my dessert fork and took a cut of the chocolate cake sitting in front of me. As I chewed on the delicious confection in my mouth I pondered yet again where we would go after this. Unfortunately for the safety of Lacus, I was spending way more time in my mind processing that she'd just declared our impromptu dinner that Haro had arranged as a dinner _date_.


	3. Chapter 3 - God Mode

**21st Century Ninja**

By: Bunny

Rated: T

Genres: Sci-fi / Action / Romance

Summary: Kira Yamato is a modern day shadow warrior that uses his exceptional hacking and combat skills to save the lives of the average person in trouble. When Lacus Clyne's number comes up, he goes to save her too, only to find that Miss Lacus Clyne is anything but average. Lacus/Kira.

* * *

Chapter Three - God Mode

* * *

As Lacus and I finished our desserts, instead of being presented with a bill, I was served a super small earbud size headset on a small tray. I picked it up for a moment studying the small bluetooth device wondering how it ended up being delivered to me.

I looked up at the closest security camera with a million questions written on my face.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I was just getting up. I mean, we're finished eating aren't we?" Lacus replied.

I looked from the camera back to Lacus, noticing that she had indeed gotten up. "I wasn't talking to you," I said.

She spun around in a circle, "Who are you talking to?"

Instead of replying to her, I placed the small bluetooth earbud device into my ear after making sure it was turned on.

"Can..you...hear...me…" Came into my ear through several pre-recorded voices.

It was Haro? Talking to me?

He sure hadn't done this before. I don't recall programming him to do this. What was that crazy AI up to?

"I can hear you," I replied instead. I didn't even bother looking at the camera as I rose from my own chair.

"Three...oh...clock…" More recorded voices replied.

I whipped my head quickly 90 degrees to my right and was immediately met with the grim look that adorned the face of every criminal about to commit a premeditated crime.

We'd been discovered!

I leapt the short distance to Lacus and yanked her entire body forcefully to the floor just before a shot fired over our heads.

"Wow you're so fast, Kira!" Lacus exclaimed at the same time more pre-recorded voices from Haro said into my ear, "One...oh...clock…"

I already had pulled my gun out as I'd tackled Lacus to the floor so with Haro's direction I was able to quickly aim at the assassin's kneecap.

The man gave out a yelp of pain as he crashed to the floor.

"Kira!" Lacus exclaimed with dismay. I ignored her protests as I shot up to my feet pulling Lacus up with me as Haro's recorded voices instructed, "Exit...20...feet...at...six...oh...clock."

I pushed Lacus ahead of myself as we quickly crossed the distance to the exit at the back of the restaurant Haro had told me about. As the backdoor opened up Lacus exclaimed, "Oh no!" At the same time Haro said, "Eleven...oh...clock." I didn't even have to process as I quickly fired my gun at yet another kneecap and watched another body quickly crumple to the ground.

"What are you in some kind of God Mode?" Lacus asked bewilderingly as I followed Haro's next direction that lead us to a vehicle I'd never seen before unlocked itself. The ignition started as Lacus and I got into the car. I quickly threw the car into first gear, loving that it was a manual and punched the max speed of the supercar out of the area, leaving only the sound of squealing tires back at the restaurant.

"Kira what was that?!" Lacus asked as I continued to speed down the small 2-lane highway that I knew would lead us back into New York City.

"Can...you...hear...me…" Pre-recorded voices asked in my ear once again.

"I don't remember programming you that it was okay to do this, Haro," I spoke to the air.

I could hear Lacus suck in a deep breath before she exclaimed once again, "HARO?"

"No...time...to...explain…" Haro's pre-recorded mixture of male and female voices replied.

"No time?" I asked back just as Haro added, "Turn...left."

I almost missed the turn, but I was trained in combat speed driving, so naturally I was able to make the turn. Obviously, Haro knew this or he wouldn't have instructed me to make such a dangerous turn. I had just focused on where we were headed to now when Haro said, "Stop...get...out."

"Get out of the car," I repeated to Lacus only to see that someone else was already opening up the passenger door of our commandeered vehicle.

"Thank you," I heard Lacus say kindly to the man that had opened up her door.

For once after he'd began talking into my ear, Haro was silent. Though no further "God Mode" directions were needed since it was obvious what we were doing next. We were back at the helipad with yet another helicopter fired up and waiting for us to board.

After boarding into the helicopter and putting our headsets over our ears, I decided the flight back to New York City was the perfect time to have a conversation with Haro.

Lacus had gotten quiet with all the commotion and my lack of responses. I watched her gaze out of the window into the endless night sky of lights from the city up ahead. She looked like some kind of otherworldly princess with her hair flowing around her and fancy clothing shining from the lights reflected off the glass.

"What are you doing," I said lowly. There was no need for me to even speak up since I knew Haro would be able to tell what I was saying.

"Lacus...Clyne...is...very...important," Pre-recorded voices responded. Not that I'd become accustomed exactly to listening to a mix-match of recorded voices, but it was especially odd hearing Lacus Clyne, which must have been recordings of some very excited fans.

My brow furrowed with deep thought. I had never programmed Haro with very important….oh, but wait...I sure had. Part of the programming for lethal intent that would be deemed relevant had included attempts for the President of the United States. However, if an attempt on the President was being made, that would have sorted into Haro's relevant numbers and been given to the anti-terrorism unit that worked with Haro. So how did Lacus Clyne become just as important as the President, but assigned to me with other irrelavent numbers? This was very odd indeed. In fact, it went against most of the things I had programmed Haro to do. Was Haro evolving? Would talking to me for our work become a regular thing or was it only for very important people? What was it that made Lacus very important? Was she a future President of the United States?

I had so many questions I wasn't even sure what to ask Haro first, or if he would even tell me. When I was creating Haro's OS, I had spoken with him a lot through the use of yes or no signals and text messages to my cell phone. I'd traveled all around asking him if he could see me or hear me. I'd taught him how to see the future by learning predictions through playing chess and other games. However, after I had completed his programming and handed him over to the government's anti-terrorist unit I had programmed Haro with a couple of very important things regarding ADMIN…

One was that he wasn't to talk to me anymore. The other was that, if my life were in danger he wasn't supposed to try to save me. There was only one person he could save as a relevant number along with all terrorist threats and that was the United States President. All other people were irrelevant, even me, Haro's creator.

I wasn't sure what was going on with Haro to alter his programming. I got it that Lacus was important, but how was it that a threat to her life caused Haro to change so much?

"Is this going to become a normal thing?" I asked.

"Father...I'm...sorry...I...had...to...invent...new...rules…" The mixture of recorded voices replied. Somehow it felt like Haro had even specifically found voices filled with regrets.

New rules...well...I already knew that much...but why had Haro disobeyed some of his primary programming, and how had he broken free from it? What had prompted him to overcome his implemented limitations I had instilled into his programming to keep him from turning into one of the monster failure AIs I had created on the path to creating Haro? Those terrible machines that had instantly tried to destroy anything and everything in their path as well as even going so far as to attack me?

I recalled with deep regret one of my failures when I had activated five AIs at once to test what would happen. The five of them had systematically killed off each other until there was only 1 left which had then hacked into the building system and tried to suffocate me to death by cutting off the air and creating an electrical fire. I had been forced to unplug the AI and destroy the box completely, starting over on Haro's design from scratch in order to instill some programming that would give the future AI that would have the power of all the knowledge of the entire world at it's fingertips a moral code that could not be broken.

"I...thought...that...you...would...want...me...to...keep...living," Haro's recorded voices continued.

I sat up straighter, suddenly feeling all my senses going into an overdrive of alertness...Haro was in trouble? _My Haro was in danger? OF DYING?_

It seemed almost inconceivable to me. What could be threatening Haro's existence? Only eight people in the world even knew of his existence because if any more knew, there would be an outcry of outrage and he would be shut off. Was he going to be exposed unless Lacus was kept alive?

I quickly processed through that train of thought. The only way that would matter is if Lacus was indeed a future President of the United States, as the acting President was on the short list of those allowed to know of the existence of Haro since it pertained to the state of national security which fell under the direct purview of the President. That meant that whomever Lacus would run against for office, if elected, would under every conceivable scenario and circumstance expose Haro and/or shut him down.

"When is Lacus going to become the President?" I asked next.

"You...don't...need...to...know," Haro replied.

Good boy. At least he hadn't altered his moral code. He was still functioning properly. If he had told me, then there would have been quite a few more questions just to make sure Haro hadn't morphed himself into some evil supercomputer AI like some of his predecessors. The fact that he was only doing the least of what was necessary to ensure the safety of everyone was good. He was still following his core programming.

I wondered if that meant I should tell Lacus about Haro now or not. Was her knowing of his existence at this time a good or bad thing? Would it affect the future? Though, even if I told her there was no guarantee she would believe me. If I told most people of Haro's existence I would simply be written off as a lunatic and admitted into a psych facility for the mentally ill, not taken seriously.

As the helicopter landed I was no longer feeling proud of Haro at all. In fact, I was furious. Of all the places in New York City to take us...we were at _MY PLACE._

My secret place of hiding in plain sight with my fake life and fake identity all there to be exposed to Lacus. Not to mention all my combat tools, ammo, training gym, and all sorts of other things that I kept away from the rest of the world. If I was going to bring Lacus to my place I would certainly want to seem at least more...normal. Nothing about my place was normal on the inside.

This was my sanctuary of safety and preparedness. What was Haro thinking bringing Lacus here? Was there really no better place in this whole city?

"I don't like this," I said to the air, knowing Haro would hear me. I pulled open the door to the roof stair access that would lead down to my penthouse apartment and motioned for Lacus to enter first. She had questions in her eyes, but she followed my lead and entered the building without voicing any of them.

I didn't like the idea of anyone on earth getting to know me better simply because I knew how much danger it would put them in. As much as I loved being around Lacus, the last thing she needed after already having two attempts on her life that day was to be exposed to my top-secret vigilante life and be placed into even greater danger because of it. Sure my place was about the safest place in the entire country, but that didn't mean it was a good idea to bring Lacus to stay over for the night. Bringing her here would only create more questions for Lacus and more questions would lead to bigger problems. That much I knew for sure.

So what was Haro thinking? For a supercomputer AI that could easily process over 700,000 possible scenarios into the future in one second, how had coming here been the best option? How had it even been an option when Haro knew how secretive I needed to keep my life?

"What don't you like?" Lacus asked as she descended down the stairway in front of me. I watched her long pink hair bounce up and down with each step she took. Watching her somehow calmed me down.

"This is my place," I answered her in a way this time, instead of my usual 'I'm not talking to you' reply I would give when speaking to Haro around others.

Lacus spun around and looked up at me with her big pale blue eyes, "Your place?" She blinked as if the idea that I had my own place hadn't even occurred to her yet.

I stopped and put both of my fists on my waist for a moment, "Did you think I didn't have a home?"

Her cheeks flushed a pretty shade of pink before she replied a bit quietly, "Well, it's so ordinary and you seem like such a badass."

I really wanted to laugh, but I didn't think that would be very badass of me. I raised an eyebrow, "Well, you haven't been inside yet. You'll change your mind."

Her eyebrows rose up with interest, "Ohhhh. So you do have some kind of secret base after all! But if I go there, it's not really a secret is it, Kira?"

My annoyance with Haro increased again. I leaned down closer to her and put my finger to her lips as I said lowly, "As long as you don't tell anybody."

Her eyes widened further for a moment before she pulled away quickly, "Well then, I'll just have to keep your secret, Kira. Since you...you know saved my life a couple of times already."

I wondered how many more times I would have to save her before this was all over as we quickly made our way the rest of the distance to the back entrance of my penthouse. I entered in the keycode access which activated the scanner. A few seconds later, my fingerprint and eye retina scanning was completed and verified, and the security door was opening up for us.

"Ok...that...was...more of what I was expecting," Lacus said with a bit of awe, "Did it really just scan your eye?"

I shrugged in response as if it was nothing to have that type of security in place for a back entrance into a residential home here in the quiet upper east side of Manhattan. The lights turned on automatically as we entered.

Lacus rushed forward, lifting up the blind covering the large windows. She stood there taking in the view of the city stretching out in all directions from the windows that surrounded the whole floor, "This...are we close to my house?"

 _Why did she like to make me sound like some kind of stalker?_

Before this morning I didn't even know she _existed_.

"Can...you...hear...me?" I could hear Haro ask once again into my earbud. I had almost forgotten he was still in my ear since he'd been quiet now for a while.

"I hear you," I said.

"What do you mean?" Lacus asked.

"I'm not talking to you," I replied quickly.

"Father...I...can't...see...you...or...hear...you…" Haro said.

Oh and another thing I almost forgot. I purposely kept my apartment closed off in a way that Haro wouldn't be monitoring my every move. Full blackout blinds covered every window. No webcams or phone cameras or security cameras for Haro to access. Not that it really mattered, but there was a comfort to me of having a place where I felt safe from the eyes and ears of my creation that knew everything. I pulled my cell phone out just as I received a text message:

 _All is safe? Y / N?_

I quickly replied with a yes.

"Who do you keep talking to?" Lacus asked.

My phone buzzed again.

 _Move to the window._

I moved to stand next to Lacus, looking out over the city. We were in my workout gym which was a large area of my penthouse. We could easily see most of city as well as central park from the large windows. I usually avoided the windows, knowing opening them and being close to them exposed me to prying eyes.

"I...can...see...you…"I heard Haro say.

"Tech support," I replied to Lacus.

She turned away from the window to look at me, "Tech support? I thought _YOU_ were the tech support, Kira!"

I smiled down at her, "I am."

She shook her head, "I don't get it."

"You don't need to," I said as I pulled the blind closed again and started walking towards the rest of my home, motioning for her to follow me.

"But I _want_ to," She replied.

Before I had the chance to come up with a reply, we had entered the living room. Which in my place was more like a crossover between a server room and arms and ammunitions room than a living room. There were towers and wires all over even though I tried to keep it neat and organized. Additionally, my stockpiles of weapons and ammunitions were scattered about haphazardly. I had a habit of cleaning my guns when I wasn't geeking out on the computers so there tended to be a certain look to my living room that most people would find far from homey.

It suited my life perfectly though. Everything I needed was in this room.

"Open...the...blinds…" Haro said into my ear with a few recorded voices.

I grimaced, but opened them up anyway, "Isn't there a better way to do this?"

"To do what?" Lacus asked.

"I'm not talking to you," I said again.

She frowned before making an inspection of the room. I idly watched her roam through my room and personal effects as I opened up all the blinds giving Haro visual and therefore audio access into my sanctuary.

Haro didn't reply which told me there wasn't a better option.

As I finished opening up the whole apartment to Haro's view Lacus asked, "So we're staying here in your base for the night?"

I nodded, "Hiding in plain sight, remember?"

She nodded, "But really...we are close to my house aren't we?"

I walked over to the end of the gym room and pointed in the direction of her building, "Your place is about 3 buildings down that way."

She worried her lower lip for a moment before she said, "Do you think that man we left there is okay?"

She was something else. That was for sure.

"He should be fine. I only shoot to kill if it's absolutely necessary," I replied feeling instant regret over the lives I had taken in the past. I didn't like to think about it. Good guy or bad guy, all life was precious to me. I wanted to believe people could change and live peacefully.

Lacus spun back around towards the interior of my penthouse and put both her hands together in front of her face as she asked, "Well Kira, where will I sleep?"

My eyebrows rose in wonder, "You think you can sleep?"

I hadn't met anybody yet that was able to fall asleep so soon after being shot at. Usually it induced a panic state that would keep people awake until their body just shut down on them. Here I was thinking I would have to find some way to occupy our time while she was upset, but instead she asks me about her would be assassin's condition after I shot him and where to go to sleep?

I only had my 1 bed since I never expected to have guests here. I did have a couch here in the living room though it wasn't used much. I figured I could sleep on the couch here and put Lacus in my room, but that did leave some distance between us. Though the idea of an assassin tracking her to my place was pretty laughable.

Lacus yawned as she said, "I'm feeling sleepy."

She looked almost cute like a little kid asking for a teddy bear and a bedtime story. I shook my head to clear it and said, "You can sleep in my bed."

I started walking towards my room when the com buzzed.

"Mr Yamato, you have a delivery," I heard my building's regular nighttime security guard say.

A package? At this time? Instantly my sensors for danger kicked back on.

I waved Lacus into my room before I said, "I'll be right back."

I headed to the elevator and went down to the lobby to get this mysterious package.

"It...is...safe…" I heard Haro say into my ear just as I took the package from the guard in the lobby.

Oh...I forgot Haro was still in his talking directly with me mode he'd programmed today. Feeling much better I took the parcel and then zoomed back up the security elevator to my penthouse.

Arriving back in my apartment, I took the package to one of my work tables I used for cleaning my guns and opened it up.

Inside was a pair of women's pajamas.

 _Haro...really?_

He delivered clothes here for Lacus? That computer was going way beyond his programming. Did he have some kind of a crush on her too?

I laughed to myself as I walked the new clothes down the hallway to my room. Haro with a crush was too funny for words. I kill myself sometimes. What am I thinking?

"It looks like some night clothes arrived for you Miss Clyne," I said as I handed her the garments.

Lacus had been lounging on my bed staring up at the blank ceiling. She sat up slightly on her elbow, tears streaming down her eyes.

"Miss Clyne? What's wrong?" I asked as I quickly rushed forward. I sat down on the side of the bed and started picking up her arms inspecting them for wounds.

She blushed as she wiped her tears away with her free hand, "I'm fine Kira, it's nothing. I just. After you left I realized what happened today." Her eyes got bigger with disbelief as she said, "I was _shot at today._ "

"Yes, I was there," I replied as if I were talking about the weather.

She grabbed the front of my suit and said with a bit more gusto, "I was shot at today! Twice! I almost died!"

She finally looked scared.

I patted her hand soothingly and said, "Well, that's what I'm here for, right?"

She gave me a wobbly smile and half a laugh as she said, "Well, you _are_ a badass."

"There now, you have nothing to worry about," I pushed the fresh pajamas into her lap and added, "Tomorrow we'll figure this all out. For now try to get some rest. I'll be in the other room on the couch."

I stood up and closed the door to my room before quickly making my way back to my living room.

I sat down at one of the workbenches and cleaned my gun. After reloading it and checking over some other basic equipment I went to my gym and grabbed some loose workout clothes to sleep in. After changing in the bathroom and grabbing some extra blankets and pillows from my hallway closet I crashed on the couch wondering how Lacus was doing.

"She's...coming..." Came through my earpiece just before Lacus appeared at the hallway entrance in her pajamas.

"Kira?" She asked.

I sat up. _Why was Haro warning me about Lacus?_

"Is something wrong?" I asked feeling instantly alert.

I watched as her little bare feet pattered across the wood floors of my living room. Then she was picking up the edge of my blanket and squishing on the couch next to me.

"I can't sleep Kira, you need to keep me safe."

I moved over slightly giving her a bit more room which she closed quickly practically laying on top of me. She blinked her big pale blue eyes up at me in the darkness and said, "I think I feel safe now."

I wasn't sure what to think. I had so many overwhelming feelings and thoughts rushing on me all at once I couldn't even process through them all. How had Miss Lacus Clyne managed to end up sleeping with me in my penthouse tonight?

It was all Haro's fault for sure.

"Sweet dreams Miss Clyne," I whispered.

"I thought I told you to call me Lacus," she whispered back sleepily.

"Yea," I replied without elaborating further. I stared up at my ceiling.

How was _I_ going to sleep?

* * *

Just a quick little thank you very much to all you that have reviewed/faved/followed. Especially those of you coming here that have read my works from other fandoms and decided to read this as well. I really appreciate the support. I had no idea Gundam SEED fandom was sooooo dead, but I would still be writing this story. I love Kira and Lacus. xoxo ~ Bunny


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